By Lucy Lake
Passing the baton to Angeline Murimirwa
After 11 years as CAMFED’s CEO, Lucy Lake is stepping aside. Here, she shares why, and how she will continue to serve CAMFED going forward; and our Patron, the Honorable Julia Gillard AC, gives her endorsement:
I joined CAMFED in 1994, shortly after it was founded by Ann Cotton, and worked with the first girls in Zimbabwe to receive CAMFED’s support to attend secondary school. Angeline Murimirwa was among them. Together with her fellow CAMFED graduates, we set up the CAMFED Association to provide a support network for young women on their graduation from school, and a platform for their emerging leadership. Angie was elected the inaugural Chair.
Since then, we have worked tirelessly to build CAMFED to where it stands today, wearing many different hats between us and ensuring that at every step, we are guided by the insights and expertise of the girls and women we serve. Our graduates are represented on our boards and our executive, and at every level of our organization.
2023 is a milestone year for CAMFED: we celebrate our 30th anniversary, and we will see the membership of the CAMFED Association surpass a quarter of a million; a powerful force for development! I believe we have an important moment to reset CAMFED’s leadership and take this force to the next level, and for this, I am passing the baton to Angie. As a graduate of CAMFED, unwavering in her commitment to accountability to the girls we serve and inimitable in her determination that every young woman should fulfil her potential, Angie is an inspiration to us all.
I’m honored to be taking on the role of CEO from Lucy, and excited by all the possibilities that lie ahead. Lucy’s leadership has laid the ground for CAMFED to be transformative – in our impact for girls and in our influence of the wider development agenda. Our partnership embodies the spirit of our motto that fuels every part of our organization and movement: Pamoja Tunaweza! Together We Can!
In stepping aside as CEO, I will continue as Chair of CAMFED’s Executive. In this capacity, I will support our leadership transition and work with the executive and boards in our global consortium to position CAMFED for its important next phase of development. And I will continue to build the movement around the world of individuals and institutions who share our belief in girls’ education as the key to a brighter future – hers, and ours.
Lucy, Angie and the CAMFED team are at the leading edge in recognizing that empowerment makes a difference, and if you empower, then you need to give way, so that the leadership of this incredibly important movement is now centered in Africa, driving CAMFED forward for its next generation and beyond. I think this is a shining example of what we are all trying to achieve.